Chronometer
by SeeJaye
Summary: "Kendra dodged the falling fire, clutching her most prized possession close. She was almost there; just another two blocks and she'd be safe. Safe enough, at least, to do what she must." With her family lost and her friends dead, Kendra only has one hope left to save the people that she loves the most. "Please let time be on my side."


Yeah, I have no idea what I'm doing. I haven't posted anything on this site in _years_ and here I am, suddenly inspired to post one of my unfinished ideas…which is ridiculous, because while I haven't posted anything in years, I've still been writing, and I have an abundance of unfinished ideas…. Oh well. I hope you enjoy, and if anything is unclear by the end, let me know and I'll answer any questions you have!

**Chronometer**

Kendra dodged the falling fire, clutching her most prized possession close. She was almost there; just another two blocks and she'd be safe. Safe enough, at least, to do what she must.

"Seth was supposed to be here," she thought, biting her lip and tightening her grip on the sphere in her arms. "He was the one that was going to take the risk."

Kendra tried not to notice the tears running down her cheeks, but it was impossible not to. Seth was dead. Dead, dead, dead, _dead, dead. _

Gone.

He had left her, just as her grandparents had left her, just as her parents had left her, just like Warren, Vanessa, Tanu, Bracken, Lena, Gavin (just because he was evil didn't mean that Kendra didn't miss who she had thought he was), Raxtus, and everybody else had left her. All gone. All _dead. _She choked down a sob and pushed her legs faster, running as close to the walls of the crumbling buildings around her as she could. None of that would matter if she could just make it. She _had_ to make it.

"Almost there." The thoughts screamed at her as the safe house loomed closer and closer. "Almost there." By now she was struggling for breath and spasms of pain threatened to buckle her knees and send her to the ground. She must have gotten hit by… something. Something that hurt, but just like her loved ones' deaths, it wouldn't matter if she accomplished her goal. "Almost there."

Kendra pushed her legs faster, ignoring every warning sign to stop that her body sent her. The fire continued to fall from the sky and dark shadows flew above her, their screeches piercing the night. "Demons," she thought in a panic. The tracker demons had shown up -had somehow traced her here. Her time frame to make this work just became significantly shorter, but she was _almost there_.

Kendra was forced to stop running and duck close to a wall as a tracker demon swooped down, close, but not close enough to catch her scent. As soon as she was clear she pushed herself up and sprinted forward, bursting through the safe house's door, almost missing the tingle as the ward around the house recognized her and let her through.

She paused and panted for breath, holding to the table next to her for support with one hand, while the other still held to her one hope. Directly across from her, down the hall, was a window, and the scene outside was gruesome. Fireballs the size of cars fell from the sky and demons swarmed. The sky itself was painted black, the thick smoke from the fire blocking the view of the stars and the moon. The buildings were crumbling and dilapidated, abandoned decades ago by the humans, who were now more or less extinct.

"They didn't stand a chance," she murmured aloud, nearly wincing at the sound of her scratchy and unused voice, "none of us did." She shook off her depressing thoughts (because now wasn't the time for pity) and lowered herself to her knees, placing her prize in front of her on the rotting wood. She didn't let herself hesitate as she began pushing the buttons on the sphere, hoping with all of the hope that was left in her that she was pushing the correct sequence of buttons.

Seth… Seth was the one that was supposed to be doing this; he had been the one to memorize the sequence after Kendra had discovered it whilst researching the golden orb. But Seth was dead, she reminded herself. He was dead, and if she wanted him to be alive again, she _had_ to get this right.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a glow surrounded the orb. The light danced across the golden sphere, growing in intensity as she pressed more buttons, before it made contact with her skin. Kendra gasped, her fingers trembling for a moment, the sensation feathery-light, before she pressed on, continuing with the sequence. The glow started to swirl up her arms, and for a moment Kendra's desperate mind, trying not to think of the consequences of what she was doing, pretended that the feeling was of a lover's caress, tracing up her veins and teasingly over her shoulders and neck.

The nice, warm feeling ended though, the second it touched her eyes. She screamed and pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes. It had felt like pins had been shoved through them. She stayed like that for a moment before she lowered her hands and tried to open her eyes, looking around.

The decrepit room was now painted in colors, the most dominant of them being darker reds and blues. She stared in awe, the sting in her eyes dying down. The swirling colors were beautiful, and beautiful was not something that she was accustomed to seeing lately. Kendra gave one last yearning look to the swirls before turning back to the sphere and began the sequence of button pushing from where she thought she had left off.

Nothing else appeared as Kendra continued pushing buttons, and for that she was glad. From what she had studied of the orb, nothing was supposed to happen at all. She glanced up quickly at the still dancing lights and grimaced, not knowing what had happened. She could only hope that what_ had_ happened didn't indicate that she had messed up, because _this had to work._

Time passed and Kendra continued. She could distantly hear the roars of demons coming closer, but paid it no mind. She would be long gone by time they destroyed the wards and defiled her sanctuary. "Long gone or dead," she thought grimly, the morbid thought taking root. It made her pause, her finger poised above the last button that she needed to push.

Death… didn't sound so bad. Everyone she cared about was dead, and joining them in oblivion wouldn't be such a bad thing, but something in her itched. She didn't _want_ to die, not after how far she had come. Determination filler her and she lightly pressed the button. Death was a comforting thought, but was reserved for later. A last option available if she had nothing else to try.

For a minute the world stood still, time stopped, the glowing colors disappeared and… nothing happened. Kendra stared down at the chronometer, hope slowly dying inside of her. Nothing happened, she must have messed up and _nothing happened_. Kendra slowly raised her gaze to the window across from her, all emotion drowning inside of her. She rose to her feet, stepping lightly over the time sphere and continued to the window. She lightly pressed her palm to the glass, noting with mild interest that it was still clean and not cracked. A rarity in this world she lived in.

That was where the demons found her not five minutes later, hand against the window as she stared out of it listlessly. The demons, thinking that they were unheard, slowly crept up to the troublesome women, wicked smirks on their grotesque faces. Kendra allowed a smile to cross her lips, moving her other hand unperceptively Vasilis, the sword attached to her hip, caressing its hilt. She would die now, death having become her only option a lot quicker than she had anticipated, but she wouldn't go down without a fight.

0o0

A loud wail filled the room, and two parents beamed with pride.

"Congratulations are in order, Mrs. Sorenson; she's a healthy baby girl." Mrs. Sorenson's smile widened, watching as the hospital staff efficiently cleaned the new baby and ran their quick tests. Finally the baby was handed to the mother and Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson cooed over the new addition to their family.

"Sophie, come here." Mr. Sorenson called to the little four-year-old girl that was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. The little girl obediently stood and crossed the room, coming to the edge of the hospital bed. She raised herself onto her tiptoes and peered at her dad from across the bed. Mr. Sorenson smiled at his daughter and reached across the bed to pet the girl's hair.

"Sophie, I want you to meet your new little sister, Kendra." Sophie turned her gaze to her mom and the little pink bundle in her arms. She reached up and petted the pink blanket like her dad did with her hair.

"Hi baby Kendra, I'm Sophia, but everyone calls me Sophie," she paused as if expecting an answer before continuing. "I'm your new big sister." She paused again before turning questioning eyes to her dad. "She's not talking," she informed him seriously. The man laughed and walked around the bed to pick the little girl up.

"She's just a little baby, Sophie; she doesn't know how to talk yet." Little Sophie gave her dad an incredulous look before gazing down at the baby and her mom.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Both of her parents laughed, and her mom reached up and grabbed one of her hands.

"We're sure Soph." Sophie crinkled her nose at the nickname, but didn't bother correcting her mom.

"Well, okay," she finally muttered, giving the babe a weird look before burrowing into her dad, resting her face against his neck. She felt her father's chuckle and smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

"Tired squirt?" Mr. Sorenson asked his oldest daughter teasingly. Sophie squirmed in his arms and raised her head to look her father in the eye.

"'Course not," she murmured, covering a yawn with her hand. Mr. Sorenson chuckled again and shifted the girl so he could look at the time. He whistled lowly and turned to his wife.

"It's already ten Hun, we better be getting home." Mrs. Sorenson smiled lovingly up at her husband and nodded, shifting the sleeping baby lightly.

"Of course you do," she murmured, keeping her voice low. She accepting her husband's kiss and smiled when he kissed his new daughter before waving him out the door. Mr. Sorenson left with his eldest bundled in his arms, throwing a "see you tomorrow" back to his wife and newborn daughter before leaving.

0o0

"Stop bugging me Kendra!" The three-year-old smiled innocently up at her sister, seemingly unaffected by her whispered yell, so Sophie, who was now seven, glared harder. After a short staring contest Sophie sighed and turned away from Kendra, crossing her arms and determined that she would just ignore her from then on. This resolution lasted through five pokes, nine stupid faces, and twelve renditions of her name said in an annoyingly high pitched way before Sophie was about to snap. Luckily a baby's cry erupted right then and saved her from breaking her promise she had made to her parents to behave.

They two sisters watched as the baby, who had just escaped from their mother's stomach, was cleaned and tested by the doctors. Sophie winced from the continued crying and was nice enough not to push her sister off when Kendra climbed into her lap, her small hands covering her ears.

Sophie sighed and wrapped her arms around her little sister, slumping into her chair slightly. She only kind of remembered doing the same thing when Kendra had been born, and now here she was again, watching the birth of another member of her family. She absently petted Kendra's hair, waiting for her parents to call them over to meet the new addition to the family.

"Kids." And that was the signal. Sophie placed Kendra on the ground and stood up. Grabbing the other girl's hand, Sophie gently pulled her to the hospital bed, vaguely recalling doing the same thing three years ago. She picked Kendra up and sat her on the bed next to her mother's hip. In her mom's hands was a blue bundle, and Sophie remembered that her dad had told her that blue meant that the baby was a boy.

"Hi baby," she murmured, standing on her tip toes and peaking at the pink little face. She wrinkled her nose and lowered herself back down. "He's ugly," she informed her parents. They laughed and her dad ruffled her hair.

"He'll get cuter," her mom reassured. Sophie nodded, but silently doubted it.

"What's his name?"

"We've named him Seth. Seth Isaac Sorenson."

0o0

Sophie jerked awake and looked widely around her room, hands grasping for something that wasn't there and eyes searching for an enemy that only existed in the future. Slowly the thirteen year old girl allowed herself to relax back into her bed, staring up at her ceiling and breathing deeply through her nose.

"It hasn't happened yet," she told herself, lightly massaging her tummy in hopes that it would get the nausea to settle. "Not yet," she murmured, turning her head and glancing at her bedside clock, wincing at the bright, green numbers that mocked her with the time and stung her eyes with its brightness. Three AM.

"Too early," Her voice scratched and she winced, clearing her throat and stretching her arms up over her head. She smiled in satisfaction and sank back down into her bed, her joints stretched and loose.

Sophie allowed herself to lie still for another minute before she sat up and swung her feet out from under her covers and onto her shaggy carpet. She wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night, not after being reminded of her not-future.

Her dreams were not typical for a teenaged girl, or -if she allowed herself to think about it - for anyone. She dreamt of a time where she was older, her family and friends were dead, and terrifying creatures ruled the world. She dreamt of the not-future, a time where she -Sophie- didn't exist and instead her name was Kendra (which was ridiculous, because she was Sophie and Kendra was Kendra). A time that she absolutely would_ not_ allow to happen, because it was scary and everyone was _dead_. People she knew, like her family, were dead, and people she didn't know but knew she loved were also dead, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

Not that she was too sure about how to go about making it not happen, but she knew her first steps, and phase one was already in place. Today ("At a more respectable time," she sneered to herself, shooting another reproachful glare at the alarm clock) she would be going to her grandfather Sorenson's house while her parents and younger siblings went on a vacation that they had won in some raffle. Sadly, though, the vacation was only for four people, and instead of giving it to some family friends like her parents had wanted, Sophie had convinced her parents to take her siblings and go without her, telling them that she would use that time to go to her grandparent's house and get to know them a bit better.

Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson hadn't been convinced at first, but Sophie had worn them down, using a mixture of teenage rebellion, baby tears, and logic. In the end she was sure her parents had agreed simply because they were sick of her, and not for any reason that she had brought up, but Sophie didn't particularly care about why they agreed, just that they did.

"Fablehaven, here I come," she announced to her room, walking to her window and gazing up at the stars. "I hope we're both ready."

* * *

Okay, a couple things; this is a completely spur of the moment plot idea, and besides what I just wrote, I have absolutely _nothing_ planned out. Seriously. So, when you send in your reviews *hint hint*, besides any questions you have (which I'll be happy to answer, because I know it all might be a bit confusing) and constructive comments you want to make, please send along what you would like to see happen in this story, and I'll definitely take that into consideration!

Also, I don't have a beta reader or anything, so if you notice any mistakes, or want to volunteer your services, send me a message :)

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and here's for hoping I get inspiration for what should happen next, or we'll all be waiting a long time for the next chapter!


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